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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29808840">The Trouble With Trouble</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElderWhizzerBrown/pseuds/ElderWhizzerBrown'>ElderWhizzerBrown</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cats (2019), Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Flirting, Bad Flirting, Deaf Character, Does This Count As Furry Content, Embedded Images, F/F, Fanart, Fluff, I wrote this for myself and the two other victeazer diehards in this fandom, Im gonna go with yes, Jewelry, Robbery, Stealing as Seduction, TMW ur bff wakes ur family and ruins ur date w a girl, Wingman Mungojerrie, except i go way off course, i hated a LOT about the movie but like the VICTEAZER ugh, jerrie and teazer arent related in this but its not too relevant, okay i lied rumpleteazer calls mungojerrie a dumbass at one point, so i sorta rewrote the movie m&amp;r scene with the stage versions, there is one (1) swear word (its damn), yeah i drew smthn to go with this and it turned out great nbd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:28:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,368</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29808840</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElderWhizzerBrown/pseuds/ElderWhizzerBrown</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Ludas.</i> n. Playful love. (Infatuation, toying, flirtation)</p><p>OR</p><p>Rumpleteazer tries desperately to seduce her crush. It works out, but not quite how she planned.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rumpleteazer/Victoria (Cats)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Trouble With Trouble</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A loose rewrite of the M&amp;R scene from the movie. </p><p>Clarification on headcanons at play:<br/>*Victoria is deaf. It doesn't impact her communication with other cats very much, since most cat communication is non-verbal anyway, but there are some moments that might not make sense without that context.<br/>*Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are both purebred Bengals who were originally adopted as a breeding pair, only for them both to turn out to be gay. They're platonic BFFs instead.<br/>*All the cats are polyamorous. Jellicle Cats, more like Polycule Cats amiright. That one doesn't come up as much, I just wanted to make a bad pun. </p><p>Also I drew an illustration for this and it turned out really good ajskjfa I'm proud of myself</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Victoria may have been young, but she knew her way around the junkyard and the cats therein well enough. Even the cats who only came by rarely, like Skimbleshanks or Bustopher, she knew about from Munkustrap’s stories. So it would be entirely incorrect to say she didn’t know what she was getting into. </p><p>The junkyard was nearly empty that night. Victoria lived in a house with an oblivious family and without other cats, so she came nearly every night, but other cats often stayed home for reasons of all sorts. Tonight, she spotted Cassandra and Alonzo speaking softly, some of the younger kittens playfighting with Munkustrap keeping an eye on them, and Tugger pretending to nap while watching Mistoffelees practice dancing. It was quiet, and Victoria felt downcast, seeing nothing to do. She had just attended her first Jellicle Ball not a week ago, and it felt too immature to play with kittens now that she was practically an adult. Dancing with her brother was fun, but not with Tugger around to make her feel like a third wheel. And she may be almost an adult, but she wasn’t nearly old enough to not feel like a burden for joining Cass and Alonzo.</p><p>A tail tapped her on the back, making Victoria jump. She whirled around to see Rumpleteazer, and glanced behind her, expecting to see Mungojerrie. But Rumpleteazer’s best friend was nowhere to be seen. </p><p>“Good evening,” Rumpleteazer greeted. </p><p>The Bengals were bad news. That’s what all the older cats told her. Victoria knew she shouldn’t speak to Rumpleteazer. But she’d been to a Jellicle Ball, now, so surely she was old enough to not have to hide from trouble. Besides, how much damage could the one cat do on her own? “Hi there. Where’s the accomplice?” </p><p>“Busy.” She didn’t elaborate. “Quiet tonight, innit?”</p><p>Rumpleteazer just wanted someone to talk to, she reasoned. <em> That makes two of us. </em> Victoria sat and wrapped her tail around her paws. “I guess everyone’s taking some time alone after the ball.”</p><p>“Was your first ball, wasn’t it? How’d you like it?”</p><p>“It was your first ball, too,” Victoria pointed out amusedly. Last year, she would have only been a month old when the ball came around, and wouldn’t have attended. “You’re only two months older than me; you don’t have to act like you know so much more.”</p><p>Rumpleteazer’s whiskers gave an embarrassed twitch and her tail whipped back and forth behind her. “Right, right.” Quickly changing the subject, she added, “I’ll tell you something I <em> do </em>know more about; you ever been to Victoria Grove?”</p><p>“Can’t say I have.” She tensed, hoping this wasn’t leading where it seemed to be.</p><p>Rumpleteazer seemed to gain more confidence in the blink of an eye, and she was suddenly on her feet with her tail aloft. “I can take you to my house there if you’d like.”</p><p>“W-what?"</p><p>“Come on, it’ll be fun! It’s even named after you. Can’t say no to that.”</p><p>Victoria glanced back at the rest of the junkyard, although she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. No one seemed to notice her and Rumpleteazer, and it wasn’t like she had something else going on. Besides, she reasoned, perhaps now that she was practically an adult, she could keep Rumpleteazer out of trouble if she went. Really, it would be irresponsible to say <em> no </em> and leave her unsupervised. “Alright. As long as we get back by morning.”</p><hr/><p>Rumpleteazer was elated. Although she’d fancied the younger kitten for a while now, she’d never thought that Victoria would agree to come to her home. It was only on Mungojerrie’s urging that she’d even gone ahead with this crazy plan.</p><p>She scampered up the side of a building to where a window was open to air out the house and turned back to be sure Victoria wasn’t having trouble following. The dark of the alley contrasted against her fur made the white kitten look even more striking than usual, and Rumpleteazer was momentarily struck dumb. <em> Everlasting, </em> was she beautiful.</p><p>Finally, Victoria joined her on the windowsill. “You’re sure your family won’t mind me being here?” she asked warily. When Rumpleteazer didn’t respond right away, Victoria cocked her head and peered more closely at her. “Something wrong?</p><p>“Nothing’s wrong!” She shook herself briefly before lightly moving through the window and gesturing for Victoria to follow. “This just leads to the hallway. They won’t wake up.”</p><p>Victoria’s ears were flattened against her skull and her eyes flickered about warily, but she followed. “I’m not too sure about this.” </p><p>Rumpleteazer placed a paw over Victoria’s in what was intended as a gesture of comfort, but soon realized could be read as too forward, and she hastily pulled back. “I- uh, let’s go into the playroom. No one sleeps there.” </p><p><em> And, </em> she thought, <em> if Mungojerrie did his job, there should be a surprise. </em></p><p>The playroom wasn’t anything too expansive. The youngest daughter, Maggie, was nearly eleven now, and she was rapidly growing out of dollhouses and rocking horses. Still, the toys that hadn’t been gifted away or sold were high quality, wood and porcelain and lace. Rumpleteazer delighted in watching Victoria’s eyes grow wide. </p><p>“Woah.” She crouched to peek inside the nose-high dollhouse where the doll family was still sat on the little sofa. Her fluffy tail shot up, the tip flicking back and forth. “That’s so pretty.”</p><p>“You’re so pretty,” Rumpleteazer blurted out, but Victoria wasn’t watching, so her mistake went blessedly unnoticed. <em> Thank the Everlasting cat. </em>She distracted herself from embarrassment by nosing open the toybox. Her gaze swept over the piled toys - building blocks, dolls made from less delicate material, figures of animals - until she found what she was looking for. </p><p>The pearls were shiny, white, and right where they should be. Mungojerrie had done his part perfectly. She mentally thanked him as she grasped them between her careful jaws and pulled them out of the box. </p><p>By now, Victoria had noticed what she was doing. She watched the necklace sway, eyes still full of wonder. “That’s a toy?”</p><p>Rumpleteazer shook her head and brought her paw up to stop the pearls from swinging with the movement. “They’re Woolworth’s.” In all honesty, she wasn’t quite sure who Woolworth was, or why Alice, the oldest daughter, had so much of their jewelry and clothing in her wardrobe. She hoped Victoria wouldn’t ask questions. </p><p>Victoria’s gaze turned suspicious. “Should we be stealing them?”</p><p>“We’re not!” Rumpleteazer’s heart plummeted. “It’s a <em> playroom, </em> surely they won’t care if we play with stuff in here.” Not that the pearls were meant to be here in the first place, of course, but Victoria didn’t need to know that. </p><p>To take both their minds off that, Rumpleteazer moved to put the necklace over Victoria’s head. Their cheeks rubbed together in the process. Rumpleteazer wondered if Victoria could feel her speeding heartbeat. Her body was so warm.</p><p>As she was retreating, pearls in place, Victoria’s little pink nose nuzzled against Rumpleteazer’s neck, and she froze in place. Was Victoria flirting <em> back? </em>The butterflies in her stomach flared up again and she quickly sat back. “They look nice on you.”</p><p>And they <em> did. </em>The large pearls stood out well among her fluffy chest fur and the blue undertones brought out her eyes. Eyes which were staring directly at Rumpleteazer. Her face went hot and she ducked her head. </p><p>Victoria was giggling and fiddling with the pearls when Teazer looked back up. “Thank you. Wish I could see them.” </p><p>A new goal! Victoria wanted to see, so Rumpleteazer would ensure she could see. “There’s a mirror in the foyer. Is that good?”</p><p>Victoria purred lightly. “Lead the way.”</p><hr/><p>The foyer was down a flight of stairs with a soft red carpet which Victoria couldn’t stop kneading as they went. It felt good on her paws, almost good enough that she didn’t notice when they reached the bottom until Rumpleteazer nudged her. She looked up to see the striped cat had found the mirror. It was set on the dark wood floor and leaning against the green wall.</p><p>“They haven’t put it up yet,” Rumpleteazer explained. “Come look.”</p><p>The pearls still worried her. What if they broke or got lost, and she got Teazer in trouble? What if the humans woke up and found a mysterious new cat in their house? Would they tell her family?</p><p>All those worries were wiped away when she saw her reflection. </p><p>
  
</p><p>The pearls were<em> gorgeous </em>on her<em>. </em>Rumpleteazer wasn’t just saying so to be nice. She didn’t like to consider herself a conceited cat, but she couldn’t deny that she looked good. </p><p>Soon, though, her eyes drifted from her own reflection to her companion’s. Rumpleteazer was staring at her again. She’d always known Teazer was a pretty cat. Before, it had been off hand, a glance from across the crowd that lasted only a tad too long. It was different to see Rumpleteazer alone, this close, with such a soft, sweet smile on her face.  Could <em> Victoria </em> really be the cause of that? <em> Her? </em> The feeling in her chest bubbled until it was unbearable. </p><p>Surely no cat who was this kind could be bad news.  </p><p>Just then, Rumpleteazer jerked around and bristled. Victoria followed to try and see whatever it was Rumpleteazer had heard.</p><p>It wasn’t the family. It was only Mungojerrie, splayed on his back, surrounded by pieces of broken glass and a puddle of milk. “Ouch,” he complained.</p><p>Victoria ran to him, careful not to step on any glass. She put a paw on his stomach, feeling for wounds. “Are you alright?!”</p><p>Mungojerrie cautiously rolled over and stood up. “M’fine, m’fine. Just slipped.” He looked past Victoria and winced, not in any physical pain, purely emotional. “Sorry. I ruined the mood, didn’t I.”</p><p>Rumpleteazer’s mouth was wide and her eyes disbelieving. “You’re okay?” she repeated.</p><p>“Mmhmm. Although<em> you </em>might not be. Did I hit my head or did you, Tease?”</p><p>Rumpleteazer shook her head and began to nuzzle him all over as if making sure. “You dumbass, you could’ve gotten hurt.”</p><p>“You’re the one who ‘needed a romantic dish of milk’.”</p><p>“Shh!” Rumpleteazer gestured to Victoria in a way that was anything but subtle. Did she think Victoria hadn’t worked out what tonight was about yet?</p><p>Mungojerrie rolled his eyes. “Whatev-”</p><p>Both the Bengal cats flinched and glanced upstairs. Victoria followed their gaze but could see nothing. “What is it?”</p><p>“The family‘s awake,” Mungojerrie explained as his tail curled and bristled. He turned to his best friend and remarked flatly, “You and your <em> guest </em>are on your own, Tease.” He then scrambled around the broken bottle and dashed out of the room. </p><p>All the fears she’d forgotten flashed through Victoria’s mind again. They’d find her and blame her for the mess, maybe find her family by the name on her collar and tell them how awful she was! She’d never be allowed outside the house again!</p><p>Rumpleteazer shoved Victoria’s haunches in the opposite direction Mungojerrie had gone. Victoria didn’t have to be told twice. She dashed forward blindly, only stopping when Teazer pointed out a cupboard they could fit in. She barreled inside, landing headfirst in a pile of rags.</p><p>The two queens huddled nervously. Rumpleteazer kept her ears pricked for updates on the family. “They found the spill,” she relayed. “But I don’t think they’ve found Jerrie yet. He’s probably hiding in the clock again.” </p><p>“What was he doing with a milk bottle at all?” </p><p>Rumpleteazer flinched but responded honestly. “Wanted to impress you, so I got him to set up. That’s why the necklace was in the toybox ‘n stuff.”</p><p>Victoria touched the necklace with a paw. In the chaos, she’d forgotten it was there. “Oh. And the milk?”</p><p>She tucked her tail and flattened her ears. Her eyes carefully avoided Victoria’s. “I thought it would be… romantic, I guess, if we had something to drink. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to go this way. Was gonna tell you I liked you over the milk, not like this. I guess it all went wrong.” She looked so pitiful. Victoria wanted to cuddle up, reassure her that it was okay. Say she liked her too, which she certainly did. But … but what? why not? What was stopping her? She’d come this far. If she fell in love with a bad news cat, who could tell her off? </p><p>“It was plenty romantic,” Victoria nudged Rumpleteazer until she looked up, and then nuzzled into her side. “You’re really sweet when you’re trying to flirt.”</p><p>Rumpleteazer looked confused. That didn’t stop her from being pedantic. “Trying?” </p><p>“Alright, succeeding. You’re very sweet when you’re <em> succeeding </em>at flirting.” She licked Rumpleteazer’s cheek. “I like you too, so it’s not like it was a total failure.”</p><p>“You do?!” The older cat’s jaw hung open and she stared at Victoria. She really<em> was </em>oblivious. </p><p>Victoria was about to respond when the cupboard door opened and a hand reached inside. The tender moment was shattered. Both cats jerked away from each other and shrunk back. </p><p>The hand felt about for a rag, only to land on Rumpleteazer’s flank instead. She hissed and it retracted quickly, replaced by a man’s face. He exclaimed in surprise at the sight of the two. </p><p>“Follow me, we’ll go out the window!” Rumpleteazer ordered. Victoria nodded and readied to leap. Once the man moved out of the way, the two cats launched out of the cupboard, sprinted into the dark foyer, and bounded up the carpeted stairs. It was exhilarating. Victoria couldn’t remember having more fun in her life. </p><p>They escaped out the window and stopped on the fire escape to catch their breath. It was only then that Victoria realized she’d been laughing. Rumpleteazer frowned and tilted her head. “What’s so funny?”</p><p>Victoria had to take a minute to calm down before replying. When she looked back up, her eyes must have given everything away. “You really are bad news, Teazer.” Rumpleteazer looked like she had a thought or two about that, but before she could express them, Victoria placed a paw over hers. “It’s a damn good thing I’m in love with you anyway.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Be sure to leave kudos if you enjoyed! Comments would be lovely as well, but no pressure.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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